Audit tracking report shows 16 of 79 recommendations closed
(December 28, 2006)
Audit recommendations tracked for the first six months of 2006 totaled 79. Of the 79 audit recommendations, 16 were closed and 63 remained either open or resolved. Of the 63 open or resolved recommendations, 33 were considered delinquent.
These positive results were attributable in large part to the efforts of the Governor’s Office, and in particular, the Special Legal Counsel to the Governor, for their initiative in encouraging agencies to respond to OPA on their delinquent recommendations. The initiative taken by the Governor’s Office has resulted in the closure of recommendations as well as the decrease of delinquent recommendations. Closing recommendations where action has been taken will help OPA streamline the process, as well as improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the CNMI government.
An analysis of the 16 closed recommendations for the first six months of 2006 showed that 11 were closed because the agencies either
implemented OPA’s recommendations, drafted policies and procedures or issued memoranda and directives in order to reemphasize the need to comply with existing regulations. OPA also closed 3 recommendations due to expenditure accounts earlier reviewed by OPA being ceased and no longer authorized or programs canceled by the grantor agency making the recommendations earlier issued as inapplicable. A recommendation was also closed due to alternative actions taken by the agency which OPA considered sufficient to close the recommendation.
Recommendations issued by private CPA firms are also included inOPA’s audit recommendations tracking report. OPA is not responsible for tracking the implementation of these recommendations, however, they are included in the audit tracking report for information purposes. Based on th e classification followed by private CPA firms, a recommendation is described as either resolved or unresolved. OPA has included in the tracking report a total of 106 recommendations in 8 recent audit reports issued by private CPA firms under contract by OPA.
As of June 30, 2006, recommendations in 13 audit reports were referred to the Attorney General’s Office for legal action to recover monies improperly expended. According to OPA’s audit reports, approximately $2,735,557 is potentially recoverable. In addition to this, potential recovery of another $3.7 million also hinges on agencies’ actions.
Recommendations in 8 audit reports identified potential recoveries due to unpaid rentals of land leases, uncollected labor processing fees, overpayments in professional services contracts and retirement benefits, and improper expenditure of public funds. Initial actions by agencies as of June 30, 2006 resulted in the partial recovery of $950,289.
In accordance with statutory restrictions in the Auditing and Ethics Acts, the names of individuals and entities in the audits are not
disclosed in this report.
